My question may have been posted before, but I will pose it again. How do you deal with fast food after the lapband? Is it hard to eat at fast food places and if so, what sorts of things do you find you can eat and tolerate? I don't eat alot of fast food, but lets face it, sooner or later we all have busy lives and fast food comes in to our life from time to time. Any advice? Also, do you miss it if you stopped eating it?

Thanks!

I wasn't a super big fast food eater. You will just have to see what you can eat after fills, etc. Wendy's chili you can almost always do. The grilled chicken sandwiches might be fine for you. It all depends! You definitely want to avoid the higher fat foods that the fast food places have.

Shelley,

Funny you should ask because I have been thinking the same thing!

Laura

We didn't eat fast food pre-band. We just don't like it. And it is expensive. My teenage son battles with anorexia, OCD, and Bi-polar and he struggles with food.

If anyone were to bring him home fast food or if I drove him to a fast food chain he would have a melt down.

Needless to say, I am only allowed to cook healthy food at my house. If I bring in junk food or unhealthy food, he throws it in the dumpster when I am not looking. He basically keeps me honest.

Thus, to make a long story short, we didn't eat fast food pre-band nor do we eat it post band. :-)

I live in Texas and Sonic has a new dollar menu hamburger that is so good and it is not made like a kid's meal burger -- it is made like the adult burgers - sometimes I do not eat the bun -- and their dollar menu fries are just the right size

I usually order a kid's meal

or like two chicken legs

you can still eat fast foods but the amount you eat will be so much less

Hi! I thought I'd chime in because I was a drive-through diva! I used to brag how my family of four could go grocery shopping and spend less than $100, but then I realized we had fast food way too many times during the week and went out to sit-down restaurants! Yikes!

Since I've been banded, there's a Missing Person poster up at Taco Bell with my picture on it.

I'll be honest, it doesn't turn me on anymore like it used to. Even when I think I want it, after a moment I realize it doesn't sound that good at all. Now, that's not to say I haven't had things from the local stops. I have two kids that like their chicken nuggets, but we've eliminated the french fries.

One night I was on my way back from somewhere and even pulled into McDonald's -- then drove right out a few seconds later, deciding to just eat something at home instead.

When I do eat out, I try to get chicken items that are grilled. I don't tolerate lettuce very well, so I don't really get the salads. I mostly just try to get the Protein in. I try to avoid the local stops that mostly have bread items like sandwiches and pizza. Being Mexican, it's hard, but I've been okay without my tortillas too. KFC is my favorite these days. I can get a little chicken and some vegetables. It's easily tolerated, and I feel like I didn't waste my pouch space for a meal on something without many nutrients.

Long John Silver was running a fresh fish meal campaign a while ago, which was nice, but for me, they over-seasoned the fish.

Taco bell has the zesty chicken border bowls. I eat the chicken out of it, with just a little bit of the rice to get a few carbs in.

I haven't craved burgers, (Not really a burger person) but I know that Burger King offers breadless platters of their regular sandwiches.

McDonald's, I like to get the chicken selects and a fruit and yogurt parfait. I will still order a sweat tea now and then, but it goes home to the fridge until I can drink again. lol

I am embarrased to admit I love fast food, always did!!! I still think about it every so often, but one day I did stop and buy it and I got sick on it so it cured me for a little while. Now if I stop I get a kids meal, and I can't finish it, or I get one thing off the menu eat a few bites and I am satified!! Now with the many food choices, like grilled items, salads, fruits, water and low fat dressings its easier to make a better choice. Also I exercise 5 days a week and I hate exercise, so when I think of cheating I think of how long I will need to work out to counter act the calories, usually its a deterrent!!!

Before my band I was a total fast food junkie, I could barely drive by a fast food place w/o going thru a drive thru. Now, I rarely think about it at all! I don't know what changed, but something clicked and I don't have those ff cravings anymore.

When I do go & need to eat in the car I get the small order of chicken nuggets (4-5) and an ice tea! If I go inside to eat, maybe a salad or a kids cheesburger & take off half the bun ~ maybe swipe a couple of fries from one of my kids when they are not looking!

Its true what everyone says here, eat protien first & it really does help with hunger. I keep a lb of lunchmeat turkey in the fridge & roll up a piece when ever I want a quick snack!

Good luck to you!

but one day I did stop and buy it and I got sick on it so it cured me for a little while.

This made me cringe, actually, when I read it, and my stomach knotted up while I'm sitting here drinking Water.

I've only gotten stuck or sick twice, not on fast food, but on shrimp, and it was to the point where I felt I was going to vomit, but didn't. It's funny how just the memory of that feeling can kick in instantly now! If I see a commercial or TV show (like Man vs. Food) where someone is cramming food into their mouth or eating something bready, it's like my mind imagines what that food would feel like stuck in my pouch, and I get disgusted by it! I think that is part of why I am doing okay without the fast food.

Funny how you can get "cured" that way, huh? ha ha ha

I love ffood! Now that Im filled to a 7cc, its over! Sometimes I can get a small ffry down, but would never attempt burger/fries combo as the pain would kill me.

When we go out to eat, its soup/salad, but no to ffood. If I had to eat there, salad would go down best w/ ranch.

I do miss fun jk food, but with my band tightening up to 7, things have dramatically changed.

My name is Heather and I was a fast food junky, lol.

Right after banding I had a rough time with this during the post op phase. I did not eat fast food, but I craved it so much that it was almost painful for me to drive past and Arby's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, McD's, etc. Part of my problem with overeating was impulse control - you could immediately get whatever you wanted from a fast food joint.

After a few months I stopped having cravings. I knew that almost everything I could buy would make me sick, so I didn't even want to bother with it. Now I have something from a fast food place maybe one every week or two and there are options.

You can get a grilled chicken patty at McDonald's for $1.40 where I live. They just put it on a piece of lettuce in a side salad container. That is actually filling and is enough food. If I am extra hungry I might get two, but I could never finish two. Fruit & Yogurt parfaits are also not too shabby.

Grilled chicken sandwiches are great anywhere but it is hard to get them without bread sometimes. I just toss the bread. A personal favoite is the spicy chicken fillet from Wendy's but it is big and I can't finish it. It is breaded - but I think I have only had it 2-3 times since banding. Their chili is also decent with some hot sauce and not too many calories either.

Taco Bell is great with the zesty chicken bowl or refried Beans. These can be ok options for a bandster. I can never finish a bowl, but a side of beans is just the right size. A crunchy taco supreme works as well in that the crunchy tortilla doesn't get stuck, the sour cream makes it go down well and there are really not many calories there.

I don't eat burgers or fries anymore. They just don't satisfy me and I can definitely pb on fries. Burgers are just too greasy (never bothered me before but with the modified diet I can't believe I used to like them).

At first I really missed fast food, but like some of the other posters, it just doesn't excite me that much anymore. Once in awhile, I'll have apples and Nuggets from McDonalds or Wendy's Chili. I have not had a fast food burger since surgery, but I never really liked them pre-surgery. I also like refried beans from taco bell. Most ff places have some kind of fruit now (apples, oranges, etc.)--if you stick with that and some form of meat without the bread you should be ok. Just watch your portions--we once thought they were "normal" portions, but they're actually huge!

Edited January 28, 200917 yr by kdlee

i miss fast food a little, then i realize its about 90% of the reason i needed surgery in the first place...some days i'd go to mcdonalds and just ordered fries i loved them so much...yeah i haven't been able to eat fries for months now.

oh Breakfast tacos...ANY taco!

i recently moved to a new city, and over new years i was watching my niece she's 8, and she wanted mcdonalds...um yeah i needed the gps to find one cause i had no idea where it was...its like i don't even pay attention to fast food places any more...i'm sure thats a good thing...

I wasnt that big a fast food eater - having a family to feed, I always was somewhat mindful of a healthy diet. We did have periods where we ate WAY too much takeaway though - namely pizza, fish and chips, Chinese. I've always been a bit phobic of other types of fast food - I havent eaten KFC for probably 25 years, ick. I loathe Subway (such awful crappy bread), I'm not huge on any of that food really.

So no, I dont miss it at all. Most of my fast food eating was not for actual meals, it was eating in food courts - muffins, cakes with cups of coffee. I dont really miss it because those foods HURT to eat so I've naturally lost my taste for them.

Nonetheless, you do end up in McDonalds every now adn again and yes, its quite difficult. I can eat the nuggets or I can eat a small fries, and i'd get a coffee, while everyone else ate a full meal, easy solved.

Very occasionally, I'll get a yearning for a Hungry Jacks (Burger King) double bacon deluxe, the only fast food burger I really like. I buy one, take off the bread and take it home to eat with a knife and fork. That's maybe once or twice a year.

I can do part of a kids meal, but I have to take off most of the bun. I should just carry skewers with me when I go out...burger on a stick is easier to hold on to. The only fast food type of thing that I really miss is a good sub. I was a bread addict and am now in recovery.

I have kids ranging from 9 to 15, so we go to a lot of fast food places. I can't eat burgers at all, they always get stuck. I can eat most chicken nuggets or strips. The bowls at taco bell work pretty well. I usually get salads at ChickFilA and either the Chili (which my doctor says is bad because it usually goes through the band easy) or a chicken salad at Wendy's (but I can't eat the whole thing). I eat chicken strips at Whataburger and haven't been in a McDonalds since before being banded.